She took a few deep breaths and started to tremble. There was a noticeable pool of tears in her eyes. Her sobs echoed in the vast garden. The ones I couldn't ignore. I followed her movements and saw her sitting on the bench nearby with her head in the hands. The more she sobbed, the unknown ache in my heart increased.
I looked around, desperately searching for someone to help that woman. But all in vain. My legs moved on their own accord towards her.
There was this bewildered look in her red-puffy eyes as I sat beside her. Uncomfortable silence surrounded us. I waited for a few minutes until her sobs subsided. I was about to ask her if she was fine but was interrupted.
" There are many tragedies in the world. Some carried out by humans and some by God himself. One such was when Zeus condemned humans to spend their entire lives in search of their other halves! " She spoke with shaky and little unclear voice.
I felt some uncanny sensations hearing her voice but nodded my head signalling her softly to continue. She could clearly see the dilemma in my eyes.
" That those 'better' halves have to be a man and woman. My mother always told me, it is the moon and stars that are supposed to be together, that moon should never betray the stars for the sea. It wasn't normal.
That a boy loving a girl is customary but girl adoring girl is a sin. That if my better half was a girl, this world will wreak havoc. "
The helplessness in her voice stifled her throat.
"You know, this world always preached about imagination, liberty and loving one another clearly ignoring the fake prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness. I could see them look at me with total contempt constantly reminding me that I am suffering from a disease.
That my normal is NOT NORMAL.
Is it really me? Is loving her really an illusion? "
Evident shock was visible on my face hearing the nerve-racking questions. It was like déjà vu.
Me crying in the corner of the room with my porcelain hands joined, chanting screams of prayers to God to fix me and make me normal, flashed before my eyes. It has been long since I came out, but the suffering still made my heart ache till today.
"No! It isn't you. Sometimes the moon craves the sea and that is normal." I looked at her with a strange determination in my voice. She kept looking at me as if my 'no' had all the keys leading to her happiness.
The silence surrounded us again, but this time a comfortable one. She offered me a small but genuine smile, got up after a minute and left the garden.
It has been months since I met her. Still every Sunday I go to the same garden with the hope of meeting her again and telling that her smile was beautiful.
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Queer Garden ( #DigitalAMAwithRheea)
القصة القصيرةContest Entry for 'The Body Myth' Challenge by Penguinindia. Excerpt : The woman was sitting on a park bench in West Point Gardens, where I came every Sunday for a five-kilometer walk. She couldn't see me, but I had stopped mid-stride to stare at h...
